Re-oxidation of Ni-MLCs

Ni-electrode based multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLC) have been successfully introduced in the market since 1992. One essential step in the processing of the MLCs is the so called re-oxidation step, where the reductively fired parts are heat treated in an atmosphere containing a higher oxygen partial pressure as the reductive firing atmosphere. This causes a modification of the defect chemistry of the doped BaTiO3 and guaranties the reliability of the device. In order get a deeper understanding of the re-oxidation process and its kinetics in MLC experiments with different re-oxidation conditions will be presented and the observed effects will be explained by the help of model calculations.